I made this chicken dish while in a rush as work was pending. I used fresh herbs from my balcony garden. I bought the herbs from Nan’s Garden Kenya. It is a very simple and very easy recipe to make – deliciousness being a bonus. Also excellent the next day. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 Whole Chicken (at least 1.6 Kg at room temperature)

1 tbsp Garlic Powder

1 tbsp Paprika

1 tsp Ginger

2 tbsp Garam Masala

2 tbsp Marjoram

2 tbsp Thyme

1 tsp Rosemary

1 Bunch Dania (Coriander)

1/2 Lemon

5 Tomatoes

4 Onions

1 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Tomato Paste

1 tbsp Cooking Oil

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

1&1/2 tsp Salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix the salt, spices and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Separate the Dania stalks and leaves. Chop them both and put into separate bowls.

Chop the chicken into pieces or leave whole if desired.

Heat the oil (I used Rosemary Canola Oil from Mountain Oil) on medium heat in a large pot and add the onions, tomatoes, tomato paste and spice mix.

Cook the onion, tomatoes, tomato paste and spice mix until it forms a paste.

Increase the heat and add the chicken to brown (sear).

Add enough water or chicken stock to cover the chicken and bring to a boil.

Add the herbs and Dania stalks then after 5 minutes reduce the heat to medium-low where the chicken is just bubbling away.

Partially cover the pot and leave to simmer for about 40-45 minutes or until the chicken is just falling off the bone.

Squeeze the lemon over the chicken, sprinkle with the Dania leaves, and it is ready to serve.

Chop the broccoli into small florets & the carrots & onions into thin strips.

Put the vegetables in the pan with ½ a teaspoon of salt & ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

Cook them for 2 minutes after which you will reduce the heat to medium-low & cover.

When the vegetables are softened but still have a little bite to them, take them off the heat as they are ready.

GRILLING THE FISH:

Set your oven to 220°

Line the oven baking tray with foil & set aside. It should be big enough to cook all the fish at once. If not, you can use 2 smaller baking trays.

Juice the lemon & cut the remainder of the lemon into slices.

Put the paprika, garlic, lemon juice, salt & pepper in a pestle & mortar, then grind them into a paste – add the remaining oil & mix thoroughly. You can also put ingredients in a blender inclusive of the oil.

Lay half of the lemon slices evenly on the baking tray.

Cut the fish fillets into chunks (or if you prefer, leave them whole) & lay them on top of lemons in the baking tray. Don’t leave too much space between the fish as they will dry out quickly.

Pour the paprika paste over the fish & distribute evenly.

Put the remainder of the lemon slices on top of the fish.

Put the fish into the oven & grill for about 40 to 45 minutes or until the fish has browned on top & is white & flaky inside.

No need for long explanations, I wanted loads of chocolate bundled into a small package and brownies came to mind. Voilà!

INGREDIENTS:

240g Butter/Margerine (melted and cooled)

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

200g White Sugar

200g Brown Sugar (the one with molasses)

4 large eggs

2 tbsp Vanilla Extract/ Vanilla Paste

1 tsp Salt

130g All Purpose Flour

100g Cocoa (not drinking chocolate)

250g Chocolate Chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.

2. Grease an 8×12-inch baking tin (the longer the pan the thinner and drier the brownie) and dust with cocoa powder or line with grease-proof paper.

3. Mix the melted butter/margarine, vegetable oil and the 2 sugars together until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla extract/paste then beat the mixture until it is lighter in colour.

4. Mix the flour, cocoa powder and salt together.

5. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined (don’t over beat the batter as this will affect the texture of your brownies).

6. Fold in 3/4 of the chocolate chips.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin, smoothing the top out evenly, and top with remaining 1/4 of the chocolate chips.

8. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the middle of the brownies in the baking pan no longer jiggles. If testing with a toothpick, the toothpick should come out with a bit of batter for a gooey brownie. If you prefer firmer brownies bake for a further few minutes and keep checking. When you test with the tooth pick, it should have a smidgen of batter on it.

9. When the brownies have cooled to room temperature, you can begin slicing into your preferred size of brownies.